At least 19 children and two adults, including a teacher identified as Eva Mireles, died after an 18-year-old man opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Texas on Tuesday
A teacher who was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday has been identified.
Eva Mireles, 44, worked in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for 17 years, her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, told ABC7. She was also identified by relatives to the Associated Press and The New York Times.
She was a fourth grade teacher who loved running and hiking, according to her teacher bio.
“I have a supportive, fun, and loving family, which includes a UCISD officer (Ruiz), college graduate daughter (Adalynn), and 3 furry friends(Callie, Kane,& Koda),” Mireles wrote in her bio.
Delgado also confirmed her niece’s death in a Facebook post on Tuesday, writing in part, “One thing that’s certain is that my beautiful niece did not survive this coward’s actions.”
“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all. This is my hometown, a small community of less than 20,000. I never imagined this would happen to especially loved ones,” Delgado said in a statement to ABC7. “All we can do is pray hard for our country, state, schools, and especially the families of all.”
Mireles’ cousin, Klarissa Quiller, also issued a statement on Facebook, writing, “This world is so cruel. My heart is hurting and I have no words. How someone can be so evil to hurt innocent people/children is mind blowing!???? Please continue to pray for our beautiful cousin’s soul that was lost in this tragedy along with all the babies.”
In an update given to CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday night, Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety told the longtime news anchor that the death toll had increased to 19 children and two adults.
Initially, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that 14 students and their teacher were killed. The shooter also shot his grandmother but she survived the attack.
According to Abbott, the shooter, identified as Uvalde resident Salvador Ramos, is dead. The shooter opened fire at Robb Elementary School at about 11:30 a.m. after abandoning his vehicle, and it is believed police killed him.
Hours after the massacre, President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a nearly eight-minute speech, saying in part, “I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this again, another massacre in Uvalde, Texas. An elementary school. Beautiful, innocent second, third, and fourth graders. How many scores of little children who witnessed what happened, see their friends die, as if they’re in a battlefield for God’s sake.”
Continued Biden: “Parents who will never see their child again. Never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest; you feel like you’re being sucked into it and never going to be able to get out, suffocating. It is never quite the same. It’s a feeling shared by the siblings, the grandparents, the family members, the community that’s left behind.”
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